Looks like thieves are going to have one thing less to steal. A tree-like device already used in Geneva, will stow your bike away from the reach of ne’er-do-wells and varmints. You simply attach your bike to a chain, swipe an electronic ID card, and the tree will lift your bike along the trunk to tuck it away, even protecting it from the rain. The tree takes mininal foot space, and the whole gig is solar powered. Awesome!

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Microsoft has made a point to stress that the next version of IE will primarily have just better security features. But aside from that, the biggest concern people seem to have is that IE needs to finally incorporate tabbed browsing. Ask Microsoft directly, and you’ll get a big fat “no comment” in return. Insiders in the know are hinting that IE 7.0 will indeed be a tabbed browser. Other bits of information we’re hearing: international domain name (IDN) support; transparent Portable Network Graphics (PNG) support, which will allow for the display of overlayed images; and new functionality that will simplify printing from inside IE 7.0. The new browser also will likely include a built-in news aggregator. Is it too late to woo back those who have switched over to Firefox?

In a week, Sony will officially drop the Playstation Portable on all y’all in the United States. You probably have yours preordered if you have been salivating over the device since last years E3. If you haven’t preordered, it is probably because you just aren’t feeling it. Nonetheless, you may be wondering what exactly comes with the launch PSP Value Pack. IGN has put together a nice, organized list of everything you get in the box - including descriptions of each item.

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While iSnoop has been working just fine for those needing a Gmail account, you can now grab one straight from the source. From the look of the page, Google has apparently invited a bunch of people to sign up for a Gmail account. If you go to the main Gmail page, there is no link provided that lets you sign up for the service. However, using the following link, you can sign up without having to get on any mailing list and requiring no invitation. No telling on how long this one will last, so get in quick.

Rumors continue to circle about what we can expect for the next generation Xbox. The latest culmination surrounds a new data technology never been used in video games before. It is a data sharing technology that would help the development of the ‘backwards compatible’ gaming with system. But that’s not the only thing they have in mind; the technology would also incorporate gaming like never before.

Several sources are pointing to using this data sharing technology to help games retain their replay value by taking, for example, sequels, and linking them together to create a new gaming experience. An example of this would allow Halo 2 players to use their favorite Halo 1 weapons because they own the original. On the other side of the coin, you would be able to ‘dual wield’ weapons in Halo 1 because you can in Halo 2.

The possibilities seem endless with what developers would be able to do as far as imagination and creativity. Let’s just hope that they use it to their advantage. Maybe a world where Sam Fisher visits one of Rayman’s levels just because they’re both Ubisoft? Well maybe not that far fetched but you get the point.

Buena Vista Home Entertainment has announced the release of five movies to be released for Sony’s PSP. The five movies scheduled to launch this spring are: National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Reign of Fire, Kill Bill Vol. 1, and Hero. It has also stated that they will be releasing more movies during the year. Disney is the first major studio to announce home video production in the UMD format outside of Sony. Disney did not state the M.S.R.P., however, Sony previously stated the price for the UMD movies will be about the same as its DVD counterpart – about $20-30. Now we can look forward to watching Keira Knightley wherever we take our PSP.

Nokia’s little “Cellphone That Could” has had its share of trouble. Not sure if a price drop to $99 is a sign of recovery or just a move to clear some stagnant warehouses. Prices on software titles have also been slashed, while a third design is said to be revealed at this year’s E3. So far, there are only 2.5 million owners of the device, and that’s including both of the previous iterations. In comparison, Sony’s PSP is expected to sell 1 million in its first week alone.

If you didn’t know already, Bushnell is widely considered to be the father of the videogame industry. Cnet has an interview with him up, covering the highs and lows of his career, including how he started Atari. Didn’t know he also founded Chuck E. Cheese restaurants, though…ya learn something new everyday. Either way, I find that it’s always a wise thing to respect one’s elders, despite the outcome of their more recent ventures.

According to a press release on AMD’s website (www.amd.com), Thomas McCoy, Executive VP of AMD’s Legal Affairs, has bluntly stated that “Intel illegally manipulated the market to exclude competition, hurting PC users around the world,” not limiting his attacks on the CPU giant. He continued to state that Intel was being unfair to the to CPU user’s worldwide by not giving users the freedom of choice. He mentioned that users have specific needs that need to be met. No doubt he was trying to plug the dramatic difference in price between the two brands.

All of these comments come via Japan’s new motions in the market. The country’s Fair Trade Commission has started a campaign to stop Intel’s monopoly of the CPU market. They are the first to do so thus far and are hoping that other technology leading countries follow suit. Japanese Fair Trade Commission has made some interesting discoveries during an 11 month investigation on Intel, one being that Intel is forcing manufactures to buy 100% Intel based PC’s.

People using iPods formatted for Macs have had the advantage of using iCal and storing their contacts with relative ease on their iPods. For the PC users of the world who still love using Microsoft Outlook, someone still loves you. iPod Sync 2.24 ($15) promises to sync the iPod like a PDA. It stores all of your Outlook data, from your schedule to your email. For those of you using iPod photo units, you can even load Powerpoint presentations to your portable devices with this software. This offers a very healthy alternative for those who are in the market for a simple PDA. As for the rest of you, don’t go putting your PDA on eBay just yet - a full review of iPod Sync will be coming soon.